A THOROUGHLY entertaining display of running rugby had the crowd on their feet at Braywick on Saturday.
However, it was not just the crowd who enjoyed themselves, as Maids coach Simon Edwards was ready to admit. He said: “Initially I was disappointed with the pace of the game. I thought they (Stow) looked a poor side and I felt we were just going through the motions.
“But then we started to click and I became more and more enthused by the way we were playing. It was a different level. It was really high quality rugby.
“The score was irrelevant. It's more about how we did it, and how much the crowd enjoyed it. And I've heard nothing but positive responses.”
In fact, the performance was so entertaining that many will be disappointed the league takes a break this week.
However, the lack of a league fixture does give Edwards the opportunity to give a few of his players a run-out in the 2nds, in particular South African blind-side flanker Drikus Mienie, who is finally approaching full fitness, just in time to replace impressive youngster Nick Kertesz, who jetted out to the States this week for the rest of the season.
In any other season the youngster’s departure may have sparked a crisis, but this year the squad has strength in depth and Edwards intends to push on for promotion.
He said: “What we must not do now is sit back on that performance. We have to step up our level of performance. That doesn't mean we'll score 70 points every week, but we do intend to step up another level. We’ll take a rest this week, then we’ll be ready for Salisbury.